Floating inner sole binding gauge



p 3 P. TENGE 2,651,793

7 FLOATING INNER SOLE BINDING GAUGE Filed March 5, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l fizverai'ar" Sept. 15, 1953 w. P. TENGE 2,651,793

FLOATING INNER SOLE BINDING GAUGE Filed March 3, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aiomeym Patented Sept. 15, 1953 2 5 2? FLQATINQ INNEB- r assume sever W li m. 11 5c 5t Louis, M as mqri ne t Man acturin qemea .SE BaiilfMi H a gofiioration bf Delaware Application March 3, 1945), Seriat No. 'iQ-Ald 019. 3.- 13c 3.4;?!

Imis inventionv relates to apparatus for app1y-. ins. adhesive tape to the edges and margins of relati ely t in ed ed bje ts. such as the ner sales o h es uch a operati n s frequently. called binding.

nner 9 i d t pe us a y co prises hacking of leather, cloth, paper, synthetic cornposition or, other material desirable in the making. of shoes, having on one surface thereof a co tin of adhesive, us a l o the or a ly a y pressure sensitive type so that it will adhere upon application without the. use of solvents or heat.

Previous devices for such application of tape havefcomprised a gauge shaped to receive the edge of a sole and a guide means for. directing te eintc C ta t i h h ed e. h au bein tired in such a position in relation to a guide table that the edge of a sole that is supported by the guide table will fit into the gauge. Movement oi the sole along the table then serves to apply e ta alone h e e. of he s undesirable result of such an arrangement that an uneven. amount of tape is frequently applied to the margins of the sole. To apply. an equal width of tape to the margins of the, upper and under surfaces of the sole, the edge of the sole rhustbe centered in the gauge. But some..- times there is a variation in thickness in difierent parts of the same sole, and soles frequently are not planar. Consequently they move up and dgwn. as they travel through the. auge. As a result some portions of a sole have heretofore ed a wider marginal band of tape on the top than on the bottom, and vice versa.

Also, some soles are thicker than others. This hasheretofore meant either to change the gauge or; to'have one sole taped differently than another;

another defect of previous devices has been that they cause a waste of, tape, which is usually or costly materials, in the cut-off operation in a manner hereinafter described.

Objectives, therefore include the provision of a simple apparatus that will apply tape. evenly, in respect. to the margins, to the edges of soles that @116 non-planar and/or of varying thickness; and that will substantially reduce the cut-off waste of tape at the end of each applying operation.

The. invention provides a normally horizontally disposed arm pivotally mounted atone end'for oscillation of the free end upwardly and'down wardly. in relation. to a" supporting surface or guide table, and a gauge head attached to the free end, the gauge head having a throat shaped to receive the edge ofa sole'that is horizontally. disposed on the guide table, and having the throat e589 2 guide means for directin tape into contact with the edgeot-the sole. at the. throat.

An illustrative. embodiment is described herein and. shown in the attached drawings. in which:

Eigure 1 is a perspective view of a floating gauge assembly or unit;

Figures 2 and 3. are front and side, elevations thereof, respectively;

Figure. 4 shows the. unit. in combination with a machine for applying tape to. the edge. and. mat: gins of a sole, threaded with tape. in readiness for an applying operation;

Figure 5 shows a sole. in the. process. of eing thus taped or bound";

Figure 6 shows the cut-01f operation; and

Figures 7, 8. and 9. show. how the sole remains centered with. respect to the. gauge and the. tape notwithstanding. variations in the. thickness and/or level of the sole.

The gauge unit or. gauge assembly has a nor: mally horizontally disposed base. plate. member 21 whose fiat upper surface. 22 forms a support or guide. table on which the work rests when. it is being bound, i. e., taped.

A gauge arm. 23 is pivotally mounted at 24. to a lnge24f which is attached: to the base. A gauge or, guide head 25. is fixed. to the. free end of the arm.

The gauge head 25 has a throat 26 which is adapted to receive the edge. of the work, such as an inner sole. 21, with the edge. 28 of the. sole bearing against the deepest part of the. throat with the tape 29. that is. to be. applied to the sole pressed between the edge 28. and the throat 26.. Where, ashere, the throat is approximately semicircular in front. elevation, the sole automatically. centers. itself. in. the throat when pressed into the throat.

The gauge head. 25 also provides a guide and shapingl'means for the tape 29. The front edge M of" the throat 26 is approximately. semi-circular in both front and side-elevation (Figures 2 and 3-). When the tape is; drawn by the. pull of a moving sole, laterally from a supply source (not shown) through vertical guide posts}! and along th arlnZ-tto the throat, and thence rearwardly through the throat, tliesaid edge 3ng,"wmh forms the corner around which the tape'is tuned; will position the tape and render it curved ifi cross section to conform it" to the throat 28." .A: preliminary shaping guide 32 forms thetape into a curved shape in readiness for its turnaround a eame. n. per tion s, crma ly s: posed in an approximately horizontal position with the center of the throat 26 coinciding with the center of the edge 28 of a sole 2'! when the sole rests on the supporting surface 22. The pivotal mounting at 24 of the arm 23 permits the free end of the arm with the gauge head 25 to oscillate from a low position, as is shown in Figure 2, to the highposition of Figure l.

A dBDIESSlOIl'SlaIld an aperture34 in the base plate 2| accommodate the projecting portions of the gauge head 25 so that the arm and gauge may drop down into the said position of Figure 2,

when desired. v g,

The aperture 34 also permits certain parts of a sole-propelling mechanism to project upwardly into contact with a sole that is beingtaped, in a manner hereinafter described.

A known mechanism or machine for applying the tape to soles in which the above described floating gauge unit or assembly may be employed,- is shown in Figures 4, and 6.

The base plate 2| of the unit is fastened into a suitable depression in the larger base plate 21' of the said applying machine adjacent the latters sole-propelling and tape-applying parts, thus becoming an integral part of the said tape applying machine.

The said propelling and applying parts here shown are of a construction and operation similar to those used in well known types of sewing machines for propelling cloth. A brief description will therefore sufiice.

When powered and operated in a manner well known, a lower feed member it which extends upwardly through the aperture 34, and a coacting feed foot 4| press toward each other and thereby grip a sole 2'! that is placed between them. They then move rearwardly and thereby propel the sole rearwardly, for a short distance. Thereupon the presser foot d2 moves downward ly and holds the sole motionless while the lower :feed member and the feed foot separate, move :forwardly, take a fresh grip on the sole and then move it rearwardly as before, the presser foot 42 having in the meantime released its grip. It will be noted that when the gauge unit or assembly is positioned in the machine, the lug .24 is in spaced relation to the presser foot 42.

When tape is threaded into the machine, as

:shown in Figure 4, and the edge 28 of a sole 21 L thrust into the throat 26 until the edge 28 bears against the deepest part of the throat with the tape 29 between the edge and the throat,

the tape will adhere to the edge 23 of the sole; the center of the tape, of the sole and of the throat will all be in line; and the marginal width .11: of tape that extends above the sole will be equal to the marginal width 1 that extends below it (Figure 7).

Upon operation of the sole-propelling and tape-applying mechanism above described, the sole will be propelled rearwardly through the throat, the equal marginal widths m and y of tape will be pressed down into adhesive contact with the marginal portions of the upper and lower surfaces of the sole, and additional tape will be withdrawn from the tape supply by the said movement of the sole and applied in like manner to the side and margins of successive portions of the sole (Figure 5) in a continuing step-by-step movement until the entire sole has been edged or bound clear around with the tape (Figure 6).

Wherever a portion of the sole is bent or in any manner non-planar so that the level of the sole changes as the sole passes along upon the table (e. g., when the sole rises above the supporting surface 22 of the table, as indicated in Figure 8) the throat 26 and the tape 29 rise with the sole so that the centers of the sole, the throat and the tape are still in a line, and the margins a: and y consequently remain unchanged and equal to each other.

Similarly, whenever a thicker portion of the sole enter "the throat, the throat rises in response to the soles normal tendency to center itself therein, and the centers of the sole, of the throat and of the tape are thereby kept aligned (Figure 9), Consequently, although the margins a: and y are narrower than where the sole is of normal thickness, they are equal to each other. The floating gauge of this invention thus makes certain the uniformity of the marginal width of tape throughout the distance around the sole and the equality with each other of the upper and of the under marginal widths, regardless of variations in the level of the sole; and it makes certain that the upper and the under marginal widths are equal to each other regardless of variations in the thickness of the sole.

Were the gauge fixed and not capable of floating up and down, this would not be true.

Changes in the level or height of the sole above the guide table, described hereinabove as due to variations in the shape of the sole, may also be due to other causes. For example, they may occur from time to time along some portions of a sole as a result of the movement of the propeller parts, such as the illustrated parts 40, ll and 42, in operation.

Additionally, the position and/or operation of the said propeller parts when certain portions of a sole are passing through, frequently force a sole to occupy a certain exact level at that point, so that were the gauge a fixed gauge, it would have to be fixed at a height that would accommodate the said exact level. But the height that is correct for the one purpose is frequently the wrong height for the proper taping of some or all portions of the same sole, and the result is an uneven binding. This problem is now eliminated by the floating gauge of the present invention.

A variation in the thickness of a sole, such as is described hereinabove, frequently occurs at the heel. With fixed gauges, the heel frequently jams at the gauge when the feed foot 4| is at the lowermost point of its stroke, but with the iloating gauge of the present invention, no amming occurs.

A further advantage of this invention is in the cut-off operation. In most applying machines, this is normally a hand operation, done with hand shears 45 as shown in Figure 6.

The floating gauge of this invention permits the work to be raised so as to admit the lower shear underneath the tape, with the sole remaining almost in the very position in which the taping operation stops. A very little draw-off of tape is required. Consequently there is no waste of tape. After the cut-01f, there is no surplus of tape to be trimmed, either from the sole that has just been bound or from the tape that is left in the machine. The next sole can be inserted in the machine and its taping corninenced immediately. This saves both time and ape.

On the other hand, where the throat is fixed and is not free to move up and down, the work must be pulled out a distance away from the 5 throat to the left before the shears can be inserted to cut the tape. This operation is some times referred to as a draw-off because a length of tape is thereby drawn ofi or out away from the throat. After cutting, there is then left a length of tape extending well beyond the throat which must be cutoff as surplus in a second cutting operation, and discarded, before the next operation can start. This wastes both time and tape.

Such waste is eliminated by the present invention.

The terms horizontal, vertical, upwardly, downwardly, front, etc., are used herein for convenience of expression. They are relative and not limiting terms since the assembly is operable in any position. For example, the gauge could be used in a machine where the base plate 2| is in a vertical position with the arm 23 that is described and illustrated herein as being normally horizontally disposed, normally vertically disposed, with the sole in a vertical position and bearing downwardly instead of laterally into the throat 26; and such an arrangement would come within the scope of the claim.

I claim:

A floating gauge assembly for use in combination with a machine for applying normally tacky pressure-sensitive adhesive tape as a binding around the edges of shoe soles having a presser foot for causing adherence of the tape to the sole, the said assembly comprising a normally horizontally disposed plate member having a flat upper surface that forms a support for the sole being bound, a lug attached to the plate member at a point that is spaced from the operating position of the presser foot when the assembly is positioned in the machine, a normally horizontally disposed arm pivotally mounted at one end in the lug for oscillation of the free end of the arm upwardly and downwardly in relation to the plate member, and a gauge head attached to the free end of the arm, the gauge head having a throat shaped to receive the edge of the sole and having guide means for directing the tape into contact with the edge of the sole at the throat.

WILLIAM P. TEN GE.

References Cited in the file of this patent I UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 550,760 Merrick Dec. 3, 1895 698,384 Abercrombie Apr. 22, 1902 753,834 Abercrombie Mar. 8, 1904 886,567 Wilson May 5, 1908 1,289,127 De Voe Dec. 31, 1918 2,175,494 Thompson et a1. Oct. 10, 1939 2,244,268 Smeltzly June 3, 1941 2,249,810 Douglass July 22, 1941 2,506,325 Ackerman May 2, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 565,421 Great Britain Nov. 9, 1944 

